


Getting Closer And Closer Everyday

by lyfthemuffinmoth



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, So yeah, and not a ten year old pining over bigfoot, basically theyre the same person, hopeless idiots pining, i came up with lesbian couple for background characters but ive grown too attached, i have daddy issues can you tell, i refuse to let ango be raised by straight people, i use the name stern cause that makes it easier to picture him as an adult, in which angus and stern do a fusion dance, no beta we die like men, so enjoy your carla and joanna overload, sternclay edition, this would not leave me alone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:28:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26431927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyfthemuffinmoth/pseuds/lyfthemuffinmoth
Summary: After Angus gets too curious and accidentally ends up stuck in another world, he tries to make the best of things. Changes his name, gets a job and tries to find his way back home. Then he gets a lead on the only thing he had considered at least some sort of magic in the strange world. And so Joseph Stern sets off for Kepler, West-VirginiaTitle from Almost There by Anika Noni Rose
Relationships: Angus McDonald & Taako, Barclay/Agent Stern (The Adventure Zone), Original Female Character/Original Female Character, will probably add more later - Relationship
Comments: 18
Kudos: 43





	Getting Closer And Closer Everyday

**Author's Note:**

> hi! thank you so much for clicking this fic :))) I hope you enjoy

Angus McDonald was a smart kid.

He did his school work, learned his spells and just made sure not to let his detective skills get rusty.

Angus McDonald was also a curious kid.

Curiosity was usually an admired trait, something that was good, but when too big it could have bad consequences. Really, really bad consequences.

Angus furrowed his eyebrows as he woke up. This place wasn’t familiar. It wasn’t right.

He spotted pavement and brickwalls and some sort of electric wagons. Angus realised then that he was laying in some sort of alleyway and he scrambled to his feet. He took a breath. 

Alright. What do you see?

Angus looked back to the unfamiliar setting and then down at his clothes. They were torn and dirty and just looked overall bad. He adjusted his glasses, glad that at least those were still okay, and took a deep breath. “Hmm.” he muttered. Think, Angus, think.

He didn’t get a lot of time to think however, as he was woken up from his thoughts by the voice of a woman who looked like she was the Director’s age.

“Oh dear- What happened to you?”

“I eh- I fell.” Angus tried.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I- I don’t think so?”

Angus tried to take a step which resulted in his ankle protesting. He bit his lip.

“Oh dear, you need to see a doctor. Come with me”

“My dad said I’m not supposed to walk with strangers.”

“You need to see a doctor, honey.”

“Fine.” 

Angus reached for his back pocket, to find his wand there, to his relief. He didn’t know if the woman was a magic user, but he was decent with magic, so he could at least try to hold her off.

So he followed the unknown woman to a big building, assuming that that place was the doctor’s place. They could just cast a spell on his foot and he could go find Taako and go home. Easy as that. Right?

After she’d let him inside, he was told to take a seat and so he did. Eventually the doctor came to pick him up and Angus walked after them as easily as he could with his hurt ankle.

Once in the small room, the doctor started taking a look at his ankle. They seemed to write a few things down and then looked back up at Angus.

“It seems to me like you sprained it. I wouldn’t stand on it for a while, maybe get some crutches until it’s fully healed.”

Angus nodded. That seemed reasonable.

“Oh- What was your name again?”  
  
Angus thought for a while. Taako did say not to give his name to strangers, hadn’t he. Ehm…. Quick, what’s a cool name? Angus thought for a little while longer until replying to their question.

“Joe.” he stated.

They nodded. “That’s a very nice name to have, Joe.” they said softly. “Are you parents here with you?”

Angus shook his head. “No, just me, mx.” he said. 

They raised an eyebrow. “Where are they then?”

“I- I don’t know.” Angus admitted.

“Well, I’m sure we can figure it out.”

* * *

This world was different from Faerun, Agnus had noticed. There didn’t seem to be any race that wasn’t humans. Angus had gotten a laugh from a doctor when he said that his parents were an elf and the grim reaper. He’d gotten a very pointed look that said ‘be serious’. 

Magic was apparently also not real. At least, not normal. Angus tested it, and he could still use his wand, but the concept of magic seemed to be something that only existed in stories there.

Angus didn’t know exactly what ‘there’ was. It wasn’t home. He knew that much. This place was very different and very _boring_. All the puzzles Angus had found so far were way too boring and way too easy to solve. He’d found out very soon that kid detectives weren’t really a normal thing there, so it wasn’t like he had any other mysteries he could solve anyways. 

So he just focused on solving his own mystery.

Getting back home

* * *

Angus didn’t like the orphanages they had put him in. It had been weeks and eventually they had concluded that his parents weren’t coming for him. Angus didn’t like the orphanages because they were loud and crowded and mean. He also didn’t like them because he didn’t belong there. He wasn’t an orphan. He had two very much alive parents, (okay, sure, one of them was debatably alive but that’s not the point-) ergo he wasn’t an orphan.

He continued his research while being stuck there. Trying to find anything on portals, teleportation, interdimensional travel, anything. All he found was fiction books and graphic novels. Interesting and fun to read, but not really useful for solving his mystery.

Angus didn’t stop digging.

After all, what good was a detective if they gave up immediately? He didn’t find much more, but still kept notes in a small notebook he’d had on him when he’d first stumbled onto this world. Onto Earth, as it apparently was called. He kept the notebook strictly for getting home, no other mysteries, not that he had any. He had it with him at all times. He didn’t go anywhere without it. The notebook or his wand for that matter. There wasn’t a lot he still had from home, but both of those were and Angus held them close, as if keeping the objects that felt like home safe would help him find his way back. Maybe they would.

* * *

Angus hadn’t actually considered that fact that someone might want to adopt him. Not being aware of the possible actions that can happen wasn’t something that was a good look on his detective resume, but there wasn’t a lot left of that anyways. No reason for a CV when you weren’t going to need it.

It was about six months after he’d first gotten to Earth. Sure, it was a long time, but Angus tried to ignore that as best as he could. With every passing second, the voice in the back of his head grew stronger. _They’re not coming for you. They’re happier with you gone like this._ Angus just pushed the thoughts down.

The couple that wanted to adopt him seemed alright. Two women in their late twenties, Carla and Joanna. Carla had long messy red curls and a face covered with small freckles. She dressed in flannels and dungarees and always carried a cheery smile on her tan face. Joanna had bright blue hair that came to just under her ears. She wore big hoop earrings and usually dressed in something like a button up with some jeans, paired with a pair of high heels, just so she would be taller than her wife.

The first time Angus had come home with them, they’d just taken a seat on the couch and talked. Carla made some hot cocoa in the kitchen while Joanna just tried to talk to Angus, learn about his interests and his hobbies. It was nice. Joanna was nice and she genuinely tried to connect with him.

Soon, Carla came over with a small tray. She put a mug down in front of all three of them. Angus’s had hot chocolate in it and by the looks of it, Carla's had tea and Joanna's had coffee.

“So, Joe,” Carla started. “What do you think of the place?”

Angus smiled at her. “It looks beautiful.” he said. He picked up his mug and held his hands around it to keep them warm.

He’d gotten used to the new name surprisingly easily. Everyone called him Joe, Joey or Joseph and it was hard not to react to it if that’s the only name people know you by and the only name you were called for six months.

Maybe he could get used to this. Get comfortable with these two women for a little while, until he figured it out at least.

* * *

Angus didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to, so he didn’t. He just packed his things for school and left, saying goodbye to Clara and Joanna before leaving. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Angus was pretty much out of it for the rest of the day. Not really paying attention to anything if he was being honest. When he got home, Carla eventually took a seat next to him while he was reading.

“Hey, Joe. Anne and I noticed you’ve been a bit out of it today. Is everything alright?” she questioned, gentle as always.

Yeah. Everything was fine. Of course everything was fine. Why wouldn’t it be? There was nothing out of the ordinary about today at all.

Angus took a deep breath.

“I’m-” He stopped once he heard his voice was trembling.

Carla looked the kid in his eyes. “Oh honey- Can I-”

Angus nodded.

Carla gently put her arm around Angus. “It’s alright.” she said softly, “It’ll be alright.” she said.

Angus leaned close against her, sniffling. He was fourteen, for god’s sake, why was he sniffling?

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Angus took a deep breath. “Today- Today is the day my parents went missing-” he muttered.

It had been a year. A full year and Angus had seen nothing, so sign of his family. He didn’t have anything himself, not anything useful at least.

He let himself cry and sink into Carla’s arms as she drew gentle circles on his back, in an attempt to calm him down.

“It’s alright, honey.” she said gently. 

Angus looked back up at her. “They’re not coming back, are they?” he said, his voice a silent whisper.

Carla gently wiped a tear of his cheek. “Never lose hope.”

He took a breath and leaned back against her. He heard Carla ask Joanna to make them both some tea and he carefully sipped from the mug she handed her once the tea was ready. 

“Thank you.” he said in a small voice as he relaxed back against Carla.

* * *

It was a few years later when Angus stumbled upon a website. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten there, but he was. It talked about something called cryptids. Supposedly creatures that weren’t human, some who could do magic. That caught Angus’s interest.

Maybe there was magic in the world after all. Maybe he could get home. 

He asked Carla and Joanna about it later that evening.

“Mom, do you believe in cryptids?” he asked Joanna.

Joanna smiled at him, her eyes always lighting up a little at Angus calling her ‘mom’. “I guess I do. There are always some things we can’t understand. Why not have there be other things like that too. Why do you ask?”

Angus smiled to himself. “Just- curious I guess. They’re kind of new information to me and I wanted to know your opinion.”

“Well, then I guess I do, Joe.” she said softly, ruffling his dark curls.

Angus laughed in protest, trying to swat her hand away. “Mom, stop it-” he sputtered.

* * *

_It’s alright. You can do this. Just focus. You won’t screw it up. You won’t screw it up._

_You better not screw it up._

Joseph took a step towards the door and opened it, trying to compose himself just before he did so. 

He wasn’t sure when he’d started seeing himself as Joseph instead of Angus. But it made sense to him now. More sense, at least. It had been almost a decade since someone had called him Angus. Joseph just seemed more like his name now.

“Joseph Stern?” the woman on the other side of the reception desk asked. 

He nodded.

“Alright, someone will be with you in a minute.”

Joseph took a deep breath. He couldn’t fail this if he wanted to get back home. This was probably the easiest way to get the resources and the means to get back.

He just wished that all the people in suits and sunglasses didn’t look so intimidating.

Sure, that was probably part of the whole job description - ‘we must like we just stepped out of a James Bond movie’ - but Joseph didn’t really like it all that much. It just played up his nerves. And okay yes, he knew that was the point, but that didn’t really help his nerves much.

Then, someone called his name. 

He took a deep breath and walked into the office, telling himself one final time that it would be fine.

* * *

He’d found something. He’d finally found something.

He’d been working with the FBI for a lot of years and his department didn’t really get a lot of things to work with. But now there was one.

A video showed in a small cryptid museum in a small town in West-Virginia. Finally a lead, something that could maybe show him the way home.

He got into his car, bags in the back. This was it. It had been nearly twenty years but now maybe he could figure it all out. He hoped so. He had to believe. Carla’s words echoed through his head.

_“Never give up hope.”_

Joseph Stern took a deep breath and hit the gas.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!!  
> i know this chapter was very angst but itll get better i promise  
> please leave me some comments or kudos, they make my day :)))
> 
> love y'all and stay safe <333


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